European Governments gradually aware of the significance of phosphorus as essential nutrient and the damage that its uncontrolled discharges into waters and soils will produce. Now it is the German Government’s turn to approve a new sewage sludge ordinance that requests phosphorus recovery from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) larger than 50.000 people equivalent.

Germany, few years ago, already approved the use of P-recovered products from WWTPs as fertilisers, such as struvite, with the advantages of homogeneous composition, with lower heavy metals and organic compounds concentrations that regular organic fertilisers.

Anyhow, nowadays the use of these recovered products is not allowed in every European country, bringing to big differences from one country to another.

The Swiss Government already approved by 2016 an innovative ordinance to command phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge. Now is the Government of Germany the one to join this initiative.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________Here I give you a link to a news published in Residuos Profesional about the opportunity to use residues as fertilizers and how could it affect on the amount of fertilizers imported by Europe.Http://www.residuosprofesional.com/residuos-fertilizantes-ahorrao-abonos-ue/LIFE + PHORWater project went further, suggesting the use of waste as a raw material to obtain a fertilizer product, struvite, which improves the quality of the soil and reduces runoff losses due to its slow release fertilizer character. Only regulation barriers have to be avoided to advance to the so call Circular Economy.

PHORWater project is reaching the end. Summarizing, there have been 36 months working on the integral management of Calahorra wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to increase phosphorus availability and recovery as struvite. The purity of the obtained product has been analyzed along with its application on potato and wheat crops.

Nowadays, we are proud to show you the results during our Final Conference “PHORWater: P-recovery towards closing the loop” organized by Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo (DAM) together with the Calagua research group from Universitat de Valencia and LAGEP group from University Claude Bernard Lyon I.

The conference is focused on the results of the integration of the struvite recovery plant with the integral management of the WWTP, to increase phosphorus availability and reduce uncontrolled precipitation. We will also go over Spanish regulation on recovered products as well as over different phosphorus recovery technologies, analyzing trends in Europe.

Conference will be on July 14th at the European Commission Representation at Spain, in Paseo de la Castellana, 46 – Madrid (Spain) with the collaboration of MAGRAMA, EIP ARREAU and other LIFE+ projects joined with private stakeholders. For security reasons, registration and credentials will be needed to access.

The conference is targeted at Spanish and European stakeholders with the aim of providing a forum to exchange all different points of view of P-recovery and reuse.

Leaflet brings extended information about the conference and the registration form to confirm assistance. Please fill in and send it to: infoday@phorwater.eu before July 11th.

PHORWater project is being developed with the support of the LIFE+ funding from the European Commission.

"Struvite
crystallization at WWTP, an investment in the form of fertilizer".PHORWater project invites you to "Struvite crystallization at WWTP, an investment in the form of fertilizer" Workshop, organized by Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo (DAM) together with the Calagua research group from Universitat de Valencia and LAGEP group from University Claude Bernard Lyon I.The event, taking place within LIFE + PHORWater project, is developed as a Green Week partner event, organized by the European Commission. Gobierno de la Rioja, Universidad de Navarra and SynTech Research will also collaborate at this workshop that will be held in Logroño on June 30th at NH Herencia Rioja Hotel, located at Marqués de Murrieta, 14, from 9:30 to 14:00. After lunch you are invited to join us to visit the pilot P-recovery plant in Calahorra WWTP.The objective is to aware of the impact of investing in nutrients recovery in order to ensure food security, understanding the properties and advantages of the struvite as fertilizer as well as promoting the application of nutrient recovery technologies in other WWTP in Spain.The workshop is targeted at anyone involved in the process of phosphorus recovery, from administrations to companies. Wastewater and fertilizer industry as well as farmers and end users of the product are also targeted audience, with the aim of providing a forum to exchange all different points of view of P-recovery and reuse.Leaflet brings extended information about the workshop and the registration form to confirm assistance. Please fill in and send it to: workshop@phorwater.eu before June 27th.

LIFE PHORWater will show kids how to recover P
from wastewater at EXPOciencia.

Next Saturday
May 28th, University of Valencia organizes open houses for
schoolchildren aimed to enjoy the science, with over 70 activities related to
science and innovation, including physical and chemical experiments, environmental
workshops and some magical games.

During its
8th edition, PHORWater will contribute with an exhibition on phosphorus
recovery from wastewater as struvite and its value as fertilizer focused to families
and general public. Especially kids, will be able to observe how to recover
values as nutrients and energy from wastewater treatment plants while enjoining
the morning.

PHORWater
is an innovative project aimed to recover phosphorus from wastewater treatment
plants within the LIFE+ financial contribution of the European Commision. The
project is leaded by DAM-Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo with University
of Valencia and University Claude Bernard of Lyon 1 as partners.

This
activity aims to show wastewater not only as a residue but as a valuables product,
raising awareness about phosphorus recovery and the benefits it brings.

Discuss implementation of different technologies for the phosphorus recycling from waste waters.

Talks on both topics will be presented by professionals of the sector (Industrials, Ministerial and Academics). The workshop will also involve round tables for both sessions and time periods allowing opinion exchange between participants.The workshop is targeted at students, researchers and industrials. LAGEP laboratory has organized this event with the support of DAM-Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo (Valencia, Spain) and the Universitat de València (Valencia, Spain) framed within the LIFE+ PHORWater project, with the contribution of the LIFE finantial instrument of the European Union.To register, download program and registration form and send it to claudia.cogne@univ-lyon1.fr before May 6th 2016.

Links

PHORWater Blog is part of awareness raising and dissemination of project results LIFE12 ENV/000441 "Integral Management Model for Phosphorus recovery and reuse from Urban Wastewater", which is beneficiary Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo and where participate as partners and co-funders the research groups CALAGUA and LAGEP. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.